Salman Agha slams his 5th half-century in T20Is: Key stats
What's the story
Pakistan's T20I captain Salman Agha's unbeaten 63 wasn't enough as Sri Lanka defeated his side by six runs in Match 6 of the T20I Tri-series in Rawalpindi. Chasing a challenging target of 185 runs, Pakistan struggled in their innings due to Dushmanta Chameera's brilliant opening spell. Thereafter, Agha steadied the ship with two quality partnerships. However, Chameera defended nine runs off the final over as Pakistan were left stunned.
Recovery attempt
Agha and Usman Khan's partnership gives hope
Pakistan were reduced to 43/4. Despite the early setbacks, Agha and Usman Khan managed to stabilize Pakistan's innings with a 56-run partnership. Usman's aggressive knock of 33 runs off 23 balls took the team's score to 99 in 12.2 overs. Another important partnership between Agha and Mohammad Nawaz gave Pakistan a fighting chance, taking the score to a respectable position before Chameera bowled a superb final over, taking the wicket of Faheem Ashraf.
Post-match analysis
Agha reflects on match's turning points
After the match, Agha reflected on his team's performance. "Yes, coming back from 40/4, chasing 180+ isn't easy. We got ourselves into winning positions multiple times but just couldn't finish. That's disappointing. It was gettable. The pitch was good. But we didn't start well with both bat and ball. We lost too many wickets in the powerplay, and we also conceded 50-plus in their powerplay." "In T20 cricket, if you don't start well in either department, you're always chasing the game."
Stats
Agha's T20 stats at a glance
Agha slammed an unbeaten 63 from 44 balls. He hit 4 fours and three sixes. He was part of two vital stands for his side but it wasn't enough in the end. Playing his 124th T20, Agha owns 1,949 runs at 21.41. This was his 9th fifty. As per ESPNcricinfo, 661 of his T20 runs have come for Pakistan from 36 T20Is (50s: 5).